This website uses cookies . Please let us know if you agree to this.
Donate now to help The Wire stay independent
Find out why we need your support now.
A Baliphonics performance, Colombo. Photo by Uvindu Perera
To accompany his Global Ear feature in The Wire 514, Simon Coates compiles an annotated playlist of tracks from the Sri Lankan city
Situated on Colombo’s Vauxhall Street, Musicmatters sits at the centre of the Sri Lankan city's experimental music world. “A lot of my introduction to experimentation in music came through Musicmatters around 2010,” says bass player Uvindu Perera. “I was new to it then, but these people were already listening widely and sharing references.”
Simultaneously a collective, a school (Perera now teaches there), a record label and home to the Sound Room performance space, Musicmatters offers both an alternative to exam-heavy Western music education and provides space for explorations in sound as art and experimentation. Many of the musicians in this playlist have links to the organisation.
Isuru Kumarasinghe “Time #1” From Ekāgra: Sitting With Trees Under Skies ( Bandcamp ) 2020
“Time #1” is taken from the 2020 album, Ekāgra: Sitting With Trees Under Skies , that formed the soundtrack to a video artwork Isuru Kumarasinghe made during the Covid lockdowns. In yogic studies, Ekāgra means 'one-point’, the practise of fixing attention on a single point or object to calm and dispel all other external distractions. Here, “Time #1” embodies that process, as Kumarasinghe creates sounds and silences for contemplation – using echoes and resonances wrangled from an electric guitar – where the pauses between the notes are as important as the notes themselves.
Monsoon Blues & Co “A Burning Sunrise (Intro)” From Sojourns In Sukha ( Monsoon Blues & Co ) 2025
Taking their name from the feelings of low energy, boredom and frustration endured during Sri Lanka’s rainy season, Monsoon Blues & Co is Uvindu Perera on double bass with Mayun Kaluthanthri reciting spoken word and prose poetry. “A Burning Sunrise (Intro)” is taken from a longform live performance that went on to form the (yet to be released) EP, Sojourns In Sukha . Partly improvised, the performance took place at Musicmatters, with the pair accompanied by Uma on vocals and Ruwan on drums.
Bo Sedkid “MURGAYAA” From BOKOPAKARAYA ( Bo Sedkid/Muvindu Binoy) 2026
The lead track from Bo Sedkid’s second album, “MURGAYAA” typifies the sort of hiphop romp that Sedkid (aka Muvindu Binoy) has made his own. Funny, clever and shot through with local in jokes, the “MURGAYAA” video is a whirling comic book featuring the balaclava’d protagonist fighting off zombies, a dinosaur and military tanks between dragging on a cigarette and toying with a pistol in his lock-up. Originally only released as a limited edition USB (now sold out), BOKOPAKARAYA is available on various streaming platforms.
Manthrayaana “Election Direction (live)” ( Manthrayaana ) 2026
One of several projects that can trace their roots back to Musicmatters, Manthrayaana continue the organisation’s passion for jazz and the art of improvisation. Led by drummer Divanka Sewmin, this is a collective that understands the mesmeric effect of repetition and the slow build. Recorded live, “Election Direction” is an improvised 17 minute epic that swings between Arkestra-like grooves, off-kilter time signatures and psych-funk. Sewmin aside, Manthrayaana features a rotating roll call of local musicians, including Odith Senerath on guitar, Pasindu Herath on saxophone, Musicmatters founder Sumudi Suraweera on keyboards, Chalindu Sankalpa on bass, and others.
Koku Samagama “Caste Song” From Lankan Jazz ( Koku Samagama ) 2026
With a name that translates roughly as The Company Of Hooks, the Koku Samagama ensemble is another project that started life at Musicmatters. Here, though, there is a distinctly political edge to the sounds they make. The jazz and improv influence is in place, but Koku Samagama gives voice to frustrations around issues like the local education system and the negative dominance of social media. Taken from the Lankan Jazz album, “Caste Song” is part slow jam, part scripted conversation, as a couple’s amiable chat slowly becomes a tense disagreement.
Amila Sandaruwan “John Cena Ape Podi Ekata Gahala” ( Amila Sandaruwan ) 2019
Sitting somewhere between folk troubadourisms and performance polemic, Amila Sandaruwan’s songwriting deals with the often absurd nature of daily life in Sri Lanka. Written in 2009 and still a mainstay of his live set, “John Cena Ape Podi Ekata Gahala” translates as “John Cena hit our little kid on the head”. In the song, Sandaruwan wonders, for all the hero worship the WWE wrestler John Cena enjoys in the eyes of his young audience, what would Cena actually do to help them if he arrived in Sri Lanka. Continuing the spirit of local collaboration, Sandaruwan is also the singer for the Koku Samagama project.
Dinelka Liyanage “Leaves are falling, hearts are filling” ( Dinelka Liyanage ) 2022
Sound artist Dinelka Liyanage is interested in the subliminality of everyday noise. Using electronics, handmade instruments and discarded tape machines, he overlaps field recordings and found sounds with his studio compositions to create meditations on the deep listening phenomenon. “Leaves are falling, hearts are filling” is a case in point. Lasting more than 15 minutes, the piece is built on lambent piano chords and hovering drones. Over time, the track opens, slowly and gently, as if taking in the sunshine. Solo work aside, Liyanage is also a member of Colombo’s Orange Mango and Bilala improvisational ensembles.
Baliphonics “Warding Off Demons (live)” ( Baliphonics ) 2014
Another project with Sumudi Suraweera in the driving seat, Baliphonics is more a concept than a group of musicians. The central concept – to use Sri Lanka’s ancient bali rituals as a springboard for ideas – leads to a series of live performances that are ritualistic in their own right. Theatrical, intense and spellbinding, a Baliphonics event blends chants, dancing and freeform experimental noises that switch from dissonance to comfort. The only official Baliphonics release (although videos of the shows are available online), the troupe’s self-titled album from 2014 captures the madness, energy and sheer exhilaration of a Baliphonics show. “Warding Off Demons” showcases the project’s untamed exuberance.
Read Simon Coates’s full report from Colombo in The Wire 514 . Buy the issue in our online shop . Wire subscribers can also read the article online via the digital magazine library .
Your comment - all comments are moderated.
Your name [optional] Pseudonyms welcome.
Your email [optional] Never spammed or displayed.
Your website [optional] Used to link to you.
Listen to the music we played to Liz Harris aka Grouper during her Invisible Jukebox interview in The Wire 513
Loading comments…